Character Has To Be Right

3 June 2014

Steve Davis says he will take his time over new recruits to get more background knowledge

Steve Davis has told crewealex.net that he won’t be rushed into making summer signings to make sure that he gives himself the best chance of bringing in the right characters. The Alex boss appreciates it is difficult to assess the personalities of players, but he and his coaching staff are determined to make their recruitment policy more fall proof if they can.

Davis has revealed that he is after at least three new players and an experienced goalkeeper to supplement his squad and admits that finding the right acquisitions may take longer as more work goes into assessing their backgrounds.

Steve told the club’s official web-site: “There are no new faces on the horizon but discussions are on-going and we know what we want and what we need.

“It is important that we try and get the right characters into the club and that is not easy. A manager, coach or scout can watch a player over and over again and like what they see on the pitch.

“You can see their personality on the pitch and take them on that. The majority of managers do that, but with that you don’t get to know their real personality until they arrive into the group. That is the difficulty with recruitment and where managers make mistakes because a player and an agent can always come in and tell you what you want to hear.

“Unless you speak to a lot of people about them and get an honest assessment then you don’t really know until they are in your environment. With a loan player you can send them back. With a permanent player you can get stuck with them.

“A number of them come in and buy into what you want them to do. They see the philosophy of the club and what we can offer. They buy into the club and the Crewe way. David Artell fitted in straight away. Mark Ellis the same because he was always a good professional.

“Others don’t and you can make a mistake because of their character and personality rather than their ability.”